Canada will impose additional economic measures against Russia in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has warned.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Freeland said the new measures will be announced in the coming days, but did not specify what steps will be taken.
“We will have additional economic measures that will be taken in the days to come,” she said.
Over past few days, Canada along with other Western nations have ramped up pressure on the Kremlin, imposing wide-ranging sanctions on Russian banks and individuals, including President Vladimir Putin.
Freeland said the federal government was examining the holdings of all Russian oligarchs and companies inside Canada. “We’re reviewing them and everything is on the table,” she said.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that all Canadian financial institutions were barred from doing any transactions with Russia‘s central bank — a key target for Western sanctions aimed at punishing Russia for invading Ukraine.
Russia was cut off from SWIFT over the weekend following an agreement among European and North American allies, marking a significant blow to Putin’s regime.
The system facilitates global financial transactions.
“The sanctions we have imposed are the most serious and stringent ever imposed on a major economy,” Freeland said in French.
She added that the measures that have been imposed so far have already had a major effect on the Russian economy and the ruble.
The Russian currency plunged to a record low 30 per cent against the U.S. dollar as markets opened on Monday following several rounds of sanctions imposed since Moscow’s incursion on Thursday.
‘Collateral damage’
On top of the human loss of life and the ensuing humanitarian crisis, the conflict — Europe’s biggest ground war since the Second World War — has threatened the global economy that is still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stock markets swung on Monday as oil prices rose sharply amid concerns about what will happen to crude supplies.
Freeland said there could be some “collateral damage in Canada” as a result of the sanctions on Russia, and that is something Ottawa and other G7 countries have discussed.
“We are going to have to be prepared for there to be some adverse consequences for our own economies,” she said.
In addition to the economic sanctions, Canada and its Western allies have also sent humanitarian aid and military weapons — both lethal and non-lethal — to assist Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Canadian government announced an additional $100 million in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.
Furthermore, Ottawa is planning to ban Russian-owned or registered ships and fishing vessels from entering Canadian ports and internal waters.
At the same press conference as Freeland, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced that Canada would be sending 1,600 fragmentation vests and just under 400,000 individual meal kits to Ukraine as part of its ongoing support for the country.